In the corridor between the Tynecastle Park media suite and the make-shift press conference room which is usually reserved for players' friends and families on matchdays, Stephen Kingsley offered some interesting observations around Heart of Midlothian's poor start to the campaign.

"When you look back at last season, we were resolute defensively and we were giving ourselves a chance going forward and getting goals, winning games," he said following the Europ League play-off defeat to Viktoria Plzen. “Not overly comfortably last season, but still getting wins and keeping clean sheets."

Hearts rarely won resoundingly last season.

After all, it took until January to score three or more goals in a league match, granted they had achieved both in the League Cup against Partick Thistle and Rosenborg in the Conference League qualifier.

It wasn't until May when the team won a Scottish Premiership match by three goals.

Across the last 12 months, Hearts simply haven't been a thrilling or exciting team to watch in an attacking sense. It therefore puts more pressure on the team in a defensive capacity. And when cheap goals are given up it makes for a far from ideal combination.

"I think we are getting into good areas," Kingsley said. "We just need to be that bit more clinical, have that clinical edge, especially in the league, cutting out the defensive errors. We're not a million miles away, even though it feels like five games we've been beating the bounce.

“It's nowhere near good enough for this club. We know that. We accept that. It's nowhere near the standard that we should be at. But we feel like, same as last season, we get that win come Sunday. It kick-starts us and we go on a bit of a run. We get that confidence back. that's definitely missing just now.

“I think that confidence plays a massive part. Then that takes us into the national break and there's a bit of a feel-good factor that comes back and you kick on again. That's what needs to happen. Everything for us now is trying to get back to basics and get that first win under our belt.”

From watching the team, in Sunday's loss to Motherwell and then the Viktoria Plzen defeat on Thursday, that confidence, or lack of, was evident.

And Kingsley is right, the team haven't been clinical. If they had been, there would have been wins against Rangers and Falkirk. Yet, since this defeat in that Premier Sports Cup, it seems the team are trending in the wrong direction in an attacking sense.

Expected goals is not a universally popular stat amongst football fans. But it can, to a degree, provide an indication of the type of chances the team are creating. Against Rangers, Dundee and Falkirk the xG was 1.33, 1.28 and 1.48 respectively. The three games since? 0.86, 0.68 and 0.33.

That last one arrived on Thursday at home to Plzen. And it is perhaps the most galling. 

Hearts needed to win the game to either take it to extra time or progress to the league phase of the Europa League. They needed to score at least one if they were going to keep a clean sheet. In blunt terms, they simply weren't a threat. We can see that via two different diagrams from StatsBomb.

First the race chart. It demonstrates when Hearts had an effort and the likelihood of it being a goal. It also calculates what chance the team had of winning based on their chances. Eight per cent.

(Image: BeFunky)

And then the shot map. This illustrates where the Hearts shots took place.

(Image: StatsBomb)

It was Kingsley who was viewed as having the best effort of the game (the one furthest left). Half of the shots came from far out and wide.

Dig a wee bit deeper. The players with the most shots: Gerald Taylor (3), Kingsley, Cammy Devlin and Kenneth Vargas (all 2) and James Penrice (1). 

Two areas require improvement. Vast improvement. As well as the eradication of cheap goals, the team need to return to creating good chances. Kingsley also suggested that the team have been guilty of "turning the ball over too many times".

Much was made of not signing a striker on transfer deadline day. But, again, said striker needs chances to score. Something Lawrence Shankland hasn't had much of this season.

It requires a team effort to step up against Dundee United in the Premiership on Sunday as they chase their first win of the campaign.

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“We can't rely on one player at a club like Hearts," Kingsley said. “We're all here because we want to compete in Europe. We've given ourselves a chance to play in the play-off for the Europa League. That's what we worked so hard for last season and we got ourselves here.

“Shanks obviously plays a massive part in that, but it's not just him and he can't bear the responsibility of scoring or be our only goal scorer on the team.

“We need to share that responsibility and create chances all around the team and then be clinical when we do get them. So yes, disappointing and frustrating, but we need to improve and we need to do it now. We've got a massive game Sunday now, a huge game for us. We've got that and then we've got an international break.

“We can really start our season on Sunday, but it's going to take a massive effort and we need to be ready for it."

Hearts players and management team will know they will have to give the Tynecastle Park crowd something to cling to and feed off in the early stages of Sunday's match. It will require fortitude and bravery and even an ability to zone in and take out the noise.

“The challenge is mental in the sense that we've been on a poor run and the confidence is low," Kingsley said. "It's easy to see that, especially in the league. No one's going to help us, it's us.

“It's us, our boys in the change room, everyone together. We're going to get through it. It's physically demanding, but that's why we've brought in players in a bulked-up squad to deal with that demand. I think we've brought in good players as well."

He added: "I think it's more of a mental thing than physical just now."